How the reviews are presented.

After the introduction and a brief description of the background of Key Raiders^TM, this is the last "preliminary" post before the first review (looking forward to that... I've just received the first prototype!)

The way by which such reviews are presented is the topic of this post.

An important detail to clarify at the beginning of each review is what type of item is going to be reviewed; the main types are:

- action figure

- large scale figure

- multi-pack

- accessory

- creature

- vehicle

- playset

Most of the reviews are about action figures, so the following description is related to that kind of item.

First of all, the basic facts regarding the character are provided:

- Name, alternative/real name

- Subtitle

- Classification, sex, relationships

- Home, era

- Allegiance, rank, career history (i.e., former allegiances/ranks)

Then, a little background of the character in the context of the story, including its origin (i.e., where the character first appeared), is presented.

Next, the articulation. Most of the action figures are 16 cm (a bit more than 6") tall and have 21 points of articulation. The standard scheme resembles the one used for other very popular action figures, e.g., Masters of the Universe Classics, and is the following:

- neck (ball jointed)

- shoulder (ball hinged, x2)

- biceps (swivel, x2)

- elbow (hinged, x2)

- wrist (swivel + hinged -for left wrist front-to-back movement and right wrist side-to-side movement-, x2)

- abdomen (hinged, usually for male characters only)

- waist (swivel, in some cases it may present a spring loaded torsion action feature)

- hip (ball hinged, x2)
- thigh (swivel, x2)

- knee (hinged, x2)

- calf (swivel, x2)

- ankle (double hinged -for both front-to-back and rocking movements-, x2)

In case there are any variations from this scheme, it will be mentioned in the review.

The description of the appearance (shapes and colours) of the figure follows these steps:

- head

- body (torso, arms, legs)

- wearables (armour -removable for male characters-, bracelets/gloves, calf-protectors/boots, belt, shorts/loincloth, cape); unless stated otherwise, any references to materials, such as metal, fabric and leather, are just related to the appearance of the items and not to the actual material, which is always plastic.

Of course, this is the most challenging part of the review, as I'm not allowed to post images of the prototypes.

When an action feature is present, this is described in details.

The review ends with an account of the weapons and accessories included in the package.

In some instances, a comic issue may also be included; in such a case, a short summary of the story is provided.

Let's get into the details.

OK, my first post told you what this blog is about, now let's get a bit into the details of what the project Key Raiders^TM is. As mentioned earlier, the project was born as a game, which became more and more complex over time and eventually became a story. The Key Raiders are basically warriors living on a land called Tahron and belonging to four different affiliations, each owning a halberd that is a quarter of a big key. The four affiliations are fighting each other to conquer the other three halberds and complete the key.

But why does everybody want this key so badly? The answer lays behind (literally) two gigantic walls, which were built by ancient wise people in the past, to protect two mysterious powers that must not go into the wrong hands. Each wall has a portal, which, once opened, reveals a sort of wormhole and gives access to the hidden power. As you may guess, the only way to open the portals is to possess the key. To be more precise, one affiliation is comprised by the good guys (we always need the good guys in a story), who are trying to complete the key in order to keep it away from the bad guys (all the others), rather than to open the portals.

The four halberds. © 2015 by X-Fader.

That's just the basic idea, in reality the story also deals with a deeper topic: diversity. In fact, most of the characters are either mammal-like, including humans, or reptile-like. The mammals are the good guys who wish to live in peace with no distinction, the reptiles are the bad guys who want to dominate and wipe out the mammals. Everything is then topped with magic abilities, advanced technology and mystic entities.

My next post will give you further details, but it'll be more focused on the toys rather than the story.

Sooo, what is this all about?

Three years ago I was clearing the basement at my mother’s home and at some point I came across a metal box covered with a thick layer of dust. I had no idea of what that box could contain. Of course I had to take a look and what I found inside was a big surprise. The content was a pile of yellowed-foxed sheets of paper presenting tons of notes handwritten by my mother’s father, who prematurely passed away 50 years ago.

My grandfather was an accountant for a living and an artist and engineer in his spare time. The notes are about a project he developed as a hobby, something at the borderline between a board-game and a fantasy/sci-fi story: Key Raiders^TM. Suddenly, a very faint memory about this venture of my granddad’s became clearer in my mind and I could remember some cards and comic strips related to it, which had been conserved by my mother after her father’s loss and I used to love as a child.

In fact, my grandfather succeeded to bring the project Key Raiders to life for a brief time, thanks to the publication of the board-game and few comic issues by a small publisher. Unfortunately the little material once in my possession seems now lost (where the heck did I put it???!!!). All I have is the content of the retrieved metal box. The notes are mostly text with a handful of simple drawings and include the rules of the game, a detailed description of all characters and contextual elements, and the synopsis of the story.

The Key Raiders^TM logo. The letters KR are placed between the four stylised blades (two at the top and two at the bottom) that characterise "The Key". © 2015 by X-Fader.

As far as I can guess, the whole thing started with my grandfather’s wish to create a chess variant, which became more and more complex over time, absorbing rules from other games. Eventually, each piece of the game acquired an exclusive identity, becoming a character with precise features, abilities and life history. All these characters became parts of a story, which got more and more convoluted and spun off prequels and sequels.

Immediately after I’d found those notes, I tried to get some info about the publisher who printed the material in the past. With big surprise, I discovered that it still exists and has actually become a toy manufacturer - PoliganToys^TM. So, I contacted the company and told them the whole story… it didn’t take long to both of us for having the same idea: let’s bring Key Raiders back to life! But let’s do it in a new way, not as a game or comic strips (not yet, at least), but in a “Mattel MOTUC” fashion… with amazing collector-oriented action figures!!

After three years of wonderful collaboration between PoliganToys’ designers and me as a consultant, I finally have the chance to see and test the first prototypes of those action figures, and, of course, comment on them through this blog. The agreement between the company and me, though, includes one limitation - I cannot post images of the prototypes. Thus, my description must be as detailed as possible, to give you the clearest idea of how the characters look like. If everything goes smooth, also with the help of your feedback, the first action figures should be released at the end of 2016.

I hope you enjoy this blog!